Coronation Street's tram horror

Several of 'Coronation Street's most popular residents are to be wiped out in a horrific tram crash as part of the soap's 50th anniversary celebrations

Several of 'Coronation Street's most popular residents are to be wiped out in a horrific tram crash.

The ITV1 soap will mark its 50th anniversary with the spectacular stunt, meaning many characters will be killed or seriously injured after the street's viaduct collapses, sending a tram crashing into the Weatherfield cobbles.

The show's new producer Phil Collinson said: "As we celebrate the show reaching such an incredible milestone it feels fitting that we will be screening an event of this magnitude which will affect the lives of all the residents of 'Coronation Street'.

"We'll be using all the wonders of modern television production to bring you a disaster that will rock the lives of everyone in Weatherfield. At the heart of the drama, though, will be ordinary people on an ordinary street battling adversity - the template for the programme created by Tony Warren 50 years ago."

However, it is unknown who will be killed off in the special week of episodes and cast and crew are being kept in the dark as to who goes and who stays.

A statement on the show's official website read: "Not even our cast and crew know which residents will die and the drama will continue into 2011 as the people of Weatherfield come to terms with the tragedy and the dramatic twists and turns that follow."